Damage Recovery
by E.B.Unchained
Summary: It had been way more than three years, as time passes different when you have the time gem and wander through the universe to recover the rest of them for Thanos. The misadventures of the god of Mischief will lead him to discover a long lost truth about Earth inhabitants and his own nature. Just for fun, Marvel owns all not me!
1. Chapter 1

The team advanced cautiously into the complex, tunnels folding and splitting like a maze. Every step measured before being taken. The place held strange and lethal traps, which had already knocked down one well-trained agent. Whatever it was being held there must be very valuable or dangerous, probably both. Agent Zephyr extended his arm to a halt, and the team stopped, one of the men approached her, holding his blaster gun over his shoulder.

"What did you find there," Ivan asked.

The woman pointed to a symbol carved in the wall, like a letter 'S' with a dot in the lower half, some sort of alien writing. Her fingers slide over the symbol, and a humming started to resonate in her eardrums, a low frequency vibration.

"Here," she responded, grasping Ivan's hand, leading him to repeating the motion she had just done.

"A force field?" He inquired.

"Maybe." Their hands move aside and then back to the carving in the wall. "Can you feel it? There is something here that is triggered with the touch"

"Not a barrier, if it was a force shield it should be already engaged. This is emitting some kind of energy. It must activate something, but… What?"

Ivan took a light stick and bent it by the half, the fluorescent gel inside radiating a yellow-greenish color. It flied across the corridor and landed in the floor, illuminating more of the same cave, nothing different to what they had been already walking on. Then, he pointed the blaster gun to the front and advanced with stealthy while the rest of the team stayed behind.

Zephyr noticed another symbol, a different one, six foot ahead in the same wall. It was barely revealed as soon as Ivan walked pass it, the glow stick in his belt did the trick. The humming started again, but now everyone could feel it.

"Wait!" Too late, a beam of white light blinded everyone in the corridor, it feel like an explosion, knocking them to the floor.

"Agghhh!" Agent Ivan Pelt was on the floor, Zephyr could see he was crawling his way back. She throw herself to the floor and crept her way to him. His face was contorted in pain, the smell of burned flesh, his check skinless and bleeding. She tried to grasp his hands, but they were also a bloody mess, the suit melted in patches over his body, so she tugged him by the belt. Neymeyer and Lemman were already on their feet, they had been two steps behind Zephyr, and same as her they were unharmed. The shock wave had died exactly were the first sign was carved in the wall.

"Help me, we have to take him back, fast!"

"Jimmy, we need medical support ready, Ivan is hurt" Bethel spoke, pressing her hand to the comm in her throat.

The commotion lasted several minutes while they worked their way out of the caves and into the ship. The rest of the crew help them to transport Ivan to the medical bay. Jimmy and Dr. Pu, the physicians aboard, were expecting them and took in charge of Ivan's injuries. The remaining members of the team were left outside, waiting and cursing on their bad luck. Agent Zephyr, give them a look, she was worried as well but her despair face would not help the team morale, her team.

She had been First in Command before she left, but she was getting lost with nothing to do, so she was assigned to SHIELD headquarters. Six months later she asked to be reinstated in the SART, seconded by Neymeyer which fervently believed that the demands of field work will keep her mind occupied, allowing her to forget a bit, while offering again a sense of purpose. Fortunately she had kept up with the training as a routine, extenuating her body seemed to help her in avoiding depression. When Nick fury himself appeared at her home to ask for her return, she was surprised. Only had she the opportunity of see him once, when she was offered a place at SHIELD. That had been sixteen years ago, when she had nothing to care for, and no one that cared for her. Better to keep memories at bay, she thought, the mission was they priority and the team was her first concern. She decided to retreat to the team quarters to go check on Pierre, which had been cleared from the medical bay, but he was still in recovery.

The rest of the field team members, Andrea Bethel and Theodoros Lemman, waited outside the medical bay, doing nothing to avoid looking like a pitiful lot.

"Dammit!" Lemman complained with frustration. He was worried about Ivan, they had been together since the Academy after all. But he was also worried about Pierre and Smith, and the whole life threatening mission they have gotten into. _At this rhythm we will be all incapacitated, or worse dead in that dammit cave, before we reach what we are searching for_.

* * *

The Space Assessment and Recovery Team, a.k.a SART, which field of action were classified to all not level 9 agents, was in its fifth outer space mission. Officially, they didn't exist, and literally they weren't in anyone's territory, their operation base was located out of any country borders, in a deep sea facility referred as The Tank. For the rest of SHIELD, they were level 1 'Sea Life Antarctic Research Team' which was synonym for 'the not-fun-at-all and freezing-their-butts nerds obsessed with the interesting (not definitely) study of the krill's DNA, as part of a research on environmental friendly combustible', in other words, a bunch of crazy scientists that love solitude and spent half of the year in a laboratory located somewhere in the Antarctic coast. That place didn't exist at all, it was a facade, so it was intentionally that too many fake coordinates were leaked about its location.

The truth was that the SART didn't interact with the rest of the organization on regular basis, but it was SHIELD level 9 commitment and sole purpose to keep The Tank's existence and operations range in anonymity. The field team was assembled by six specialists, they were engineers and combatants. All of them recruited at young ages, attended to the Academy, trained in military tactics and piloting. They had been preparing to go to the space for years, confined most of their time under the sea in space-like conditions. All of them had spent at least six months at the International Meteorological Space Station, where SHIELD had managed to replace most of the international personnel with undercover SHIELD agents. The final step of their training was a mind blower, it was difficult to content the excitement when they finally meet the Zenith. They felt like privileged children when they boarded in the Link Shuttle to the ship, and as proud as they could be, they learned to pilot it, to repair it and became one with the ship.

The extreme secrecy blanket that SHIELD used to cover the whole Zenith project has very founded reasons. None government, not even the US, will gladly accept that SHIELD was under control of a functional space ship, correction, a functional alien space ship, loaded with alien technology and capable of fade from the satellite and radars and plain view in milliseconds. When the ship was found, it caused and amazing chaos, amazing because the potential was unthinkable, but chaos because it will only lead to war for its control, and the truth of the existence of extraterrestrial life will cause panic to the planet's population.

It was indeed, one of the motivating factors for the foundation of SHIELD. So and agreement was meet and the ship soon became the best guarded secret of the human race. It continued like this for years, before they decided what to do with the ship, when SART born as a vision, for the many years it took them to be able to do anything with the technology, and after the decided to assemble the SART. How the ship had been found was lost knowledge, out of any record, the keepers of that secret where long died. The truth about its origins gone with the live of one of the greatest scientists SHIELD had the opportunity to cross with, one of the last bearers of the secret, one that sponsor years of research to uncover the basics of its operation, and spend his life trying to develop a power source to fuel the ship to life. He had succeed but he never lived to see his dream come true, even today it was Howard Stark's money that untraceable continued nourishing most of level 9 and 10 activities. But it was his son, that has revealed Stark's achievement, and because of that the ship could be awoken, powered by nothing else than Stark's arc reactor, of course Tony Stark didn't knew of the ship existence, nor the SART, nor his father ultimate secret, because after all, Avengers were not level 9.

Director Fury has been devoted to the project, and now, even if Director Coulson was not fan of the Agency's secrecy, himself condemning the experimentation with subjects in lower containing facilities like the Fridge, he ultimately understood that it was necessary to keeps things at a limited range of action and an even limited range of knowledge.

SHIELD efforts for the planet protection, could easily be misinterpreted as global conquering schemes, but to deny the existence of super humans, mutants and aliens, and deny that they enhanced capabilities could be used with evil purposes, was to yield and condemn the humanity. So yes, they will use all the resources in their hands and go behind the backs of every country and government if needed.

* * *

Almost three hours had elapsed after the team returned from their third recovery attempt, they were still crowded out of the medical bay, trying to kill the time. Dr. Wei Pu, knocked on the door to catch their attention, Jimmy followed him. Lemman stood up in expectation and everyone turned to see the doctor.

"He will be fine," Dr. Pu said.

"Can we see him?" Lemman asked.

"You may go, but he is sleeping. I checked on Pierre thirty minutes ago, he is much better, and had been asking for you," he said the last part making a gesture to Bethel. Lemman entered in the medical bay and Bethel headed to the quarters. When they left, Dr. Pu addressed Zephyr and Neymeyer, as they were ones in command of the mission, which made them also responsible for the security of the support crew.

"He is sedated now, the burned area is ample," Dr. Pu informed, not without concern. "What caused it, it was intended to disintegrate the flesh, his right hand was much damaged… I'm sorry, Ivan was a great pilot."

"Why are you talking of him in past tense. He is not dead, just injured and he will recover, he is a strong man."

"I'm sorry Agent Zephyr, but the wounded area expanded eating the flesh upon his arm, we… I remove it to avoid the propagation."

"What are you saying?"

"This is more than a burn, it continued damaging the issue at a fast pace, like an alien flesh-eating bacteria, it could be contagious. We need to start quarantine protocol immediately."

"No, we are exposed here, whoever built this, we don't know them, and we don't have enough equipment to fight them, we need to go back. We will activate the protocol once in Earth orbit."

"I'm sorry agent, but it is already done." This time it was Jimmy who spoke, making his way back in the room. He had sneaked to the command room while the doctor spoke. "Whatever threat is here we cannot risk to take it back home."

Zephyr's jaw tighten, she knew the protocol by heart, but now she was in the wrong end of the sentence. Now they were stranded in Mars for 120 days, until Earth send an extraction team in the Link Shuttle. They will have to wait at the abandoned space station, where the extraction will confirm the secure isolation or non-existence of whatever pathogen they may have been exposed to. They will be cleaned up like lab rats, and if a pathogen was positive and dangerous, the ship will be discarded. They will have to spend an additional 90 days in isolation, and only if the test results were negative for every single person on board, they could have clearance to go back home. _Life just sucks_.

She couldn't think clear, it was too much already, they were eons far from home, with a potential alien threat to recover that they cannot yet reach, two agents injured and now all of them were stranded, anything could happened in 120 days. So much had already happened in just 9 days, since they had landed on the planet. They cannot enter in Earth's orbit, but they cannot remain there waiting for something uncertain to happen. Her fists pressed too hard to avoid her hands from shaking. Perhaps they can still secure the 084, and then move the ship to the planet's orbit.

"We still have a job to finish," she said determined, but Neymeyer objected immediately.

"Oh, for Christ sake! Be reasonable Zephyr, you cannot take them back in there."

"We are already in quarantine, and that will cover for whatever other alien bug we may catch."

The doctor bowed his head and left the room, following Neymeyer's hint. Then he stepped closer to Zephyr and spoke with a calm but firm voice.

"It could had been you, not Ivan. The safety has been compromised, you don't have to kill yourself to complete the mission. If not for you, think on the team."

"That I'm doing, Hans. What if the alien that built this knows we irrupted in? We are outnumbered. What if they are on his way here now? At least we should know why are we dying for, or maybe use it in our defense."

"We are not… dying here, we are not!"

"Listen to yourself, you are terrified!"

"No, you are the one that is terrified. One of your own crew just pass over you to set a quarantine and you are in shock."

"We are a stuck here. We cannot remain sitting crossed arms next to a potential threat and do nothing. We have a mission to complete, and so we will."

"You have changed"

"You too, you used to be fearless and bold and cunning. What happened with that man?"

"That was before… then you left and I had to step in your boots. You said that I'm afraid, well I am, I don't want to lose you again. And if I have to stop you to go outside the ship, then so be it."

"Don't you dare to blame the fault on me. Did you step in my boots when I mourned alone? I didn't came back for you, but here we are in Mars, stranded, in quarantine, with two men hurt. I won't allow this mission to fail, nor anyone in this team to be left behind. Do you think I care to be thrown out the SART when we get back in… seven months? Oh, I do have changed, maybe it is my time to be the reckless one."

Neymeyer stormed to the door, his face pure rage, his body tense. He stooped and turned half the way out, his arm shaking, a fist closed tight with the index pointing, "You want to continue the mission, fine by me, go ahead, but whatever happened from now is on your account not mine." Then he left.

Exactly nine hours after a crew meeting where the concerning news about the quarantine were exposed, the rest of the standing members of the SART were on the garage preparing to go back to the cave. Denver and Bethel had already suited up, and were checking the equipment and the packs. Anderson checked the communication support with Lemman. With two men down, the remaining field team got reduced to four. Neymeyer stepped in the garage, he grab a blaster and fit a pad that Anderson handed to him in his suit pockets. He throw a glance at Zephyr but said nothing, then he stomped pass her to the gate. Lemman followed, unlocking the safe gate to open the area to outer space. _This is totally wrong, that freaky cave is making us insane._

They walked, blasters guns in hands, crossing the dusty landscape, fingers ready on the triggers. The hole could be seen on the ridge, hidden, barely visible. It was the radiation signature that the place emitted which had made possible its detection, only that… it was not the place, it was something inside of it. Over the last year, two satellites and three exploration probes had been sent. The first estimated area was narrowed to one third of the planet and luckily after 6 months the pathfinder located a tentative entrance. It took 6 months more to prepare the ship and the team to carry the task.

This was their first mission that land in another planet, the first two missions had been in earth orbit, while in the next two they had made it to the moon. Actually, installing the cosmic radiation monitor in the moon had not been exactly a retrieval, and their two 084's turned to be ancient pieces of an Asgardian ship that was drifted away, thousands of years ago, technically space floating garbage. Now, this mission had promised to be something more excitement, the 084 object, was in the surface of Mars, and the radiation signature was similar to the ones recorded when the attack of New York had occurred. The pathfinder images showed a cave entrance, but no sign of life was detected near it. Of course they were armed, and prepared to confront any menacing that may be protecting the object, but they were blinded to what they may encounter there. The emitter may be a machine, a weapon, a material or any holdover left by ancient alien settlers or passers. They only hope whatever it was could be contained and loaded safety into the ship.

The second time, it had been easier to navigate in the tunnels. They had traced down the route with the pad. Not a Starkpad, no, that damned Stark toys had always back doors that the inventor can use, and frequently did, to hack on SHIELD. All the technology they carried with them or in the ship was SHIELD developed at the Project Pegasus facility, tested and adjusted later in The Tank. After all, Stark was not the only genius in the planet, no matter what he believed. He was indeed a pompous one, the narcissist billionaire used to get things his way. Besides Hydra wasn't the only one who liked to tamper with alien artifacts.

They reached the same spot when Ivan had been hurt, it was a dead end.

"We need another route," Lemman spoke pacing uneasy like a caged dog.

"There is no other path"

"Then we make a new one," Bethel intervened pulling the digger adapter for the blaster gun.

"Wait, we don't know what is behind these walls, it can cause an explosion or something, we can end trapped here."

Bethel held the scanner to the walls, walking along, until it beeped. "And here is our winner spot! The density of this area is less than the rest of the wall across the corridor, maybe there is another empty space in the other side, it can connect to another tunnel, or a room."

"What do you think?" She asked to Zephyr.

"I think it's worth a try"

"Hands on then." Lemman attached a second drill and he and Bethel started the task.

"Go easy on it, we don't want the wall to collapse."

Two hours later they had carved a window size patch to let a person slide through it, a little tight but it was something. The walls were a thick sturdy rock, nothing that you can find back at home. Home seemed farther now with the quarantine situation, but that was something to be worried later, first they had a mission to complete. Bethel was right, they had dig into another tunnel, one that had been sealed with the same material the cave was carved in, melted by an intense heat or explosion. They all went through and follow the tunnel which was as wide as the main passage. Scanners took the lead followed close by blasters ready to shoot.

"We are getting close to the origin of the energy signature, it is stronger but it seems to scatter, to the-" Neymeyer paused to move the scanner to his left and then to his right.

"Of course it couldn't be easy, there are probably two emitters, in opposite sides. We'll have to split," he said, separating a smaller screen, the size of a credit card, which was attached inside the pad.

Zephyr took it and looked at the screen, the bigger pad screen splatted in a second camera view, coming from the mini Pad is Zephyr hands.

Zephyr and Lemman followed the hall to the left side, Neymeyer and Bethel to the right.

"The signal is stronger, here"

"What the…. duck!"

Total blackout engulfed them, two laser cannons popped out from the rock wall, aiming for them.

"Lasers?" The two rays bounced trough the space between the walls, scanning.

"Don't move, I think they have range sensors."

"Neymeyer, do you copy? I think we cannot advance more at this side."

"That meaning we have our noses stuck to floor, with an evil laser pointing at us! Lemman said as calm as he could, showing a hint of sarcasm."

Bethel pocked Neymeyer slightly, making him look to the end of the corridor, it seemed to turn left.

"Zephyr, show me the corridor in front of you." A mirror image displayed, another corner, but this turned to the right. "I have an idea, a crazy idea." And a grin attempted to display in his face.

"Listening!"

"I think the center of the complex is a square, which left the cannons located at the corners. Maybe we can split and approach them from both sides. It cannot shoot in two directions at the same time, so one of us will have chance to blow it."

"Sounds reasonable, but we cannot know which side will shoot first, we need to be ready to react fast, either for shot or for duck."

"Maybe we can force it to shoot to a specific direction. If each of us stand in the middle of the side just a step closer to a side, and everyone step to the same side at the same time-"

"Then we can take down all the lasers at the same time. It may work only if we coordinate ourselves in exact timing to fire the opposite cannon while avoiding the shoot of the closer one.

"Sounds like a plan.

Lemman crawled slowly below the corner and to the other side, while Bethel did the same, their position monitored in the pad while Neymeyer guided them with the communicators to get perfect positioning.

"Lemman ready!" He whisperer to the voice sensor over his neck.

"Bethel ready!"

"Neymeyer ready!"

"Zephyr ready! At the count of three everyone stand up one step to the right, we are expecting attack on the front and target on the rear. Now positions… and… one ...two... three."

The motion was sudden, followed by a loud boom, the lasers burst and exploded in seconds. Eight pairs of cannons were neutralized, and he team lost accounted was the Pad, which protected Neymayer's arm like a bracer, taking a fraction of the laser impact.

"Is everyone fine?" Zephyr inquired, sitting up to regaining his breath.

* * *

The team stood together, while the frustration increased. The have walked the 268 feet square perimeter several times, just to realize that there wasn't a way to reach the center of it, not even a denture of a sealed entrance or opening. They had dig into the rock walls to found a second wall, a metal one, still no way in.

"Ok, I'm out of ideas," Neymeyer stated, followed by a loud crash and bang. "What are you doing?"

All eyes looked toward Bethel, a dismounted cannon at her feet. "I wanted to know what powers it on, is not like there is electricity here"

Bethel and Lemman took hands on the task of disassembling the laser, to find inside a small glowing sphere. It can be fitted in a hand and glowed an intense bright pink.

"Don't touch it," Zephyr warned.

She tried with a pair of pliers she had took from the equipment bag. As soon as he tried to grasp it, the cannon rotated. "It still works, the sensors…"

"Let me see. Yes, the sensors are destroyed but the laser still works, maybe we can -"

"Use it to cut a hole in the metal. That is brilliant Bethel! Can you make it shoot the laser again?"

"Give me ten minutes"

"Do it in five. Neymeyer, Lemman, help me get the other cannons here."

Before they finish their task, Bethel had managed to get the cannon to work producing a perfect laser bean. She pointed it to the exposed metal in the wall, where they had hollow out the rock.

The metal vibrated like a wave of energy bouncing at the surface, the ray was absorbed.

"Hey guys, you do want to see this"

"Interesting," Neymeyer said standing by her side.

"Can we try to overload it, concentrating the four lasers in the same spot?" Zephyr inquired.

"That's our next step, allow me"

It took Bethel another ten minutes to fix the rest of the cannons, helped by Lemman who was mesmerized by the energy spheres.

"Ready guys, let's do this." The cannons were activated by Bethel, as the others hold them one by one. They were heavy so it was like holding a baby elephant, the position was uncomfortable with the arms stretched around it. They barely managed to keep the beams focused, inducing a faint melting in the target surface. It was not enough.

"It's not working," Neymeyer said.

"I beg to differ boss, it is making the material's atoms to vibrate, with enough energy the molecular structure can be affected and we can have our hole."

"This is all we have!" Neymeyer complained.

"No, the blasters!"

"What? Zephyr, we already tried them, that didn't work either"

"I actually wasn't thinking on use them on the wall. Their power source is also alien, it may not be the same, but we can try to empower the cannon crystals."

"Wait, wait there, we don't know how they will react. That can create an explosion, I'll not risk to blow the whole place, ourselves within!"

Zephyr gave a thought to this argument, even if this was the only idea they got, it was a reckless move. She was really considering to pause the quest and return to the ship. They could all use some rest and try to analyze the situation with fresh heads. But that was not happening, it was Lemman that acted impulsively, and came accidentally with the solution. The energy wave generated by the explosion throw them back and they hit the rock hard on their backs.

Lemman had kicked one of the blasters into the beam target. Yes, the blaster power source had been overcharged by the laser and it indeed exploded. The explosion leaving a small hole, the size of a plate, in the metal wall.

"Damn it Lemman, you could have killed us all!"

"It worked, didn't it?" But he right away noticed the disapproving look in Zephyr's eyes, so he didn't commented anything else.

They set into the task to disassemble the rest of the crystals and attach them to the hole borders, and set themselves in a more safe range before activate the blasters at the same time.

The explosion was bigger, and stunned them a little bit. But they looked satisfied at bigger hole in the wall, the edges melted and fuming.

Zephyr step inside, being careful to not touch the borders of the makeshift entrance, blaster up and front. She saw a big rock, standing in the middle of…the metal sheltered room.

"The floor!" Bethel jaw was about to drop. "The metal melts with the rock." The cave itself, the tunnels were carved in the planet's ground, but the pathfinder analysis of the planet surface earth an rocks never detected any unknown materials. This undetected alloy that formed the room walls was embedded in the planet's core itself, intermingled with the rock, separated to create a safety box in the middle of the complex. _This is impossible._

The space inside the room was limited, but there was enough space for them to walk in. The walls were a foot thick of pure metal, while it melted with the rock itself on the floor. In the center of the room a peculiar structure of solid rock was erected from the floor like an old cedar stump, leaving scarcely 3 foots free to the roof, it was wide enough that a person cannot embrace it with open arms. The explosion has left a charred mark in the floor and metal shavings and chunks were encrusted in the rock obelisk. Zephyr got close to examine it, her first discovery was that the floor got stickier closer to it. The color was darker also, at it looking like the substance leaked from the rock like sap from a tree, scurrying over the trunk. The second thing was a crack in the stone, several indeed, where the metal shards had hit as a result from the explosion. A closer look revealed that the substance leaked from the top of the rock.

She touched it, with her gloved finger, it was sticky and dark, definitely the same substance that was on the floor. A thin trail was slowly running down. It was thick, but not black, red, it looked like… _No it can't be._

"This looks like… blood." All the faces turned to her, as in a cue the team stood in formation behind her, guns ready.

"Zephyr, come back." She turned to see Bethel pointing at the top of the rock.

She traced her steps back without losing visual connection to the stone.

"Holy shit!"

There was something on the top, something black and dark red, attached to the stone with metal restraints. The thing move slowly revealing fingers, it pulled, trying to tug free from the... _Shackles?_

Zephyr hand reached for her mouth in stupor. Neymeyer touched her shoulder and she shuddered, but composed herself immediately and made a sign for them to split and make advance. They circled the rock, two by each side. The creature was stretched over the rock's side in a painfully looking position. Arms totally extended, dangling from shackles, legs shackled to the floor by the ankles, the ties forced it to remain kneeled, but the body was suspended and the shackles cut nastily in the limbs articulations causing them to bleed. The position didn't allow it to rest the weight of the body over the floor, on the contrary it obliged for it to support against the rock, embracing it. They came to cover a 084, but this was a life form, and despite the horrible condition it was discovered by them, it was most definitely alive.

What was most perturbing, was to see it moving slowly but desperately, like a mouse in a mouse trap, dying from the exhaustion of trying to free himself.

This was definitely not good, new questions arise in the four agent's minds, what it was and why it was here. Why it was even alive being as it was, fixed in its position by the blade of a sword. The curious sword was inlaid in the rock, pretending to be Excalibur. Only that, in the middle of the blade, the creature chest lied impaled, trapped between the sword handle and the rock, covered in fresh and dried layers of grime, a mix from his own sweat and blood.


	2. Chapter 2

There was tension in the ship, everyone's nerves were at the edge of a cliff, ready to fall with the most subtle sneeze. They had been taking turns monitoring the camera in the contention room to alert of the small sign that revealed their new guest has awakened. It had been three days now, three days out of 120. Three days in solitude deprived from Earth contact.

The dust storm that now covered the planet's surface, also came with alterations of the magnetic field patterns, thus interfering the communication equipment. So far, Earth only knew they were in quarantine protocol, and probably they were swearing thinking that the mission had pitifully failed. The 084 had been first detected based in energy readings, they had followed a faint pulse, intermingled with a stronger power radiation. The pulse was irregular, emitting erratic bursts that nullified the - now known - laser power signals, at least for a few seconds before it faded. The scientists in The Tank believed it was some kind of message in a sort of code. They couldn't translated but they believed it was a mechanical generated Morse code. So they were expecting to find the remains of another abandoned ship, not a sealed underground facility. At first the SART team believed the emitter object was a power source, contained in a safebox, guarded like a treasure buried in the Egyptian pyramids. No, they didn't thought they would find a creature, at least not a living one. The truth, it wasn't a safebox, it was a prison, a cage to contain a very dangerous creature. One that unfortunately had visited earth, bringing chaos, destruction and dead.

Lemman had been in New York when the whole thing happen, his family had made it, but he knew some people that didn't, neighbors, friends. It was one of the events that had rushed the launching of the ship. It had been in space since, the crew had been switched yearly, by means of the approach team and the Lindbergh, an improved space shuttle enhanced with some of the technology used in the Quinjet. Even after the Hydra upraising that literally disassembled SHIELD, level 9 and 10 facilities were functioning, with most of their personal born and raised in shield by shield, they displayed the highest levels of allegiance. That, combined with the independence level that was granted to their operation, played in favor at the end. While many facilities, including the Fridge, were lost, more top secret settlements remained untouched, especially all of them related with alien technology experimentation and dangerous criminals. Project Pegasus and The Tank were under level 9 jurisdiction, while The Vault, Ravencroft and The Raft were under control of level 10. Both levels existed above and aside the rest of the SHIELD structure, separated in command.

It was a relief to know that on Earth, SHIELD was capable to deal with the monster that now lie unconscious in the Zenith containment room, but until they were back they have to deal with it the best they can. Lemman knew it was the order to retrieve the 085, but it turned to be a 089, and not any 089, it has to be the crazy bastard that tried to destroy New York. Though it doesn't looked precisely like a god now. His eyes fixed on the screen, he couldn't avoid to think about it again and again. _It was a mistake to set that thing free, to take it into the ship, to heal it, for god's sake! A murderer! He deserves nothing but to be dead. I should have pull the trigger, end it right there while it was attached to the rock._ He tried to dismiss those thoughts, the criminal must be taken back to face justice for his crimes. No doubt, they inmates in the Raft will make a welcome party for him.

"Hey, I brought you something to eat," Bethel entered in the monitor room, handing a wrapped sandwich to Lemman. He thanked her and grabbed it without much interest.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"This guy is a murderer, he tried to enslave our planet, our people, so many died. Why did you pull the sword out? He was obviously held prisoner here for a reason. Hell, probably tons of reasons! Who knows how many others the bastard has attacked, killed. We are sure not the only ones he has pissed off. This was justice, he deserve it, he deserve even worse!"

"The bounds in his arms doesn't look Asgardian and there are no guards here, this is not a prison is a vault. We don't know who put him there, or why, we need to get answers, don't we? That is our job. What about this guy allies, the monsters that attack New York? They may as well be plotting against Earth right now. "Are those your words or Zephyr's"

"I agree with her. I only want answers, and then I myself will stab the thing against any rock you chose."

"Deal?"

"Deal" Bethel responded grasping Lemman extended hand, and they both finish the hand shake by clashing theirs fists in a friendly way.

* * *

They pain was gone, and that was bad. There were no screams and that was even stranger. He tried to push his chest backward, nothing. Not the piercing sensation of the blade. He stopped, but there was nothing, not the cold biting of the sword teeth, cutting his flesh like a saw. His hand moved timidly to touch the center of his chest. _My hands?_ He hadn't been able to feel his arms or his hands from since he cannot remember. The fingers he couldn't quite feel them, if he still have them all was another question. His hand felt heavy, he couldn't get it closer to his face to see. His eyes were closed anyway, and he didn't intended to make a reckless move. He has learned that free will was not a valued skill, he had learned this the hard way. This he knew, he was not attached to the rock anymore.

Contrary to what he expected, he felt distressed. In a sense, while he had been restrained he also had been free, free from worries, decisions and burdens, his body was trapped but his mind was free to wander. The only tie he has with the universe was his body, so he decided only paid attention to it when necessary. Normally he spend the time lulled by pain, such a sweet comfort pain could be. Because when it stopped it was a cue something worst was about to come. Usually that something was heat, like the one underneath him. The burn in his arms, face, and chest was unbearable. He pushed his body backward as most as he could, until he felt the handle of the sword touching his back, it was not a comfortable position, his hand cuffed at the top of the boiling rock, his feet barely touching the floor, his whole body hanging from the wrists, arms totally extended. To support his body in the toes was painful, and when he got tired his body collapsed over the rock, it burned horrible, his arms and chest were very damaged, skinless patches littered his body. When weakness invaded him, his chest slide trough the sword, the serrated part near to the point ripping his guts slowly, that and the burns, he couldn't help to not scream until his throat ached. Sometimes his body was humble and passed away, he sure was blessed for this times. Later, when he regained consciousness, he'd deeply regretted to be so weak.

The Other had fulfilled his promise, as he Loki, formerly god of mischief, longed for pain. He craved for it as an infant crave for a sweet humming lullaby in order to find rest. Pain was safe, was peace, being unmolested, not tortured, not even addressed. The pain in his wrists and chest meant blood leaking in a little trickle, slow and steady. Not spurting wildly out from his body from deep aching cuts, fresh made. That was a different kind of pain, one that made breathing hard from broken ribs, and turn members in jelly, with poking bones looming out from his flesh.

He wanted to be back in the rock, unperturbed, free. Now he was afraid, he feared for what he would see if he opened his eyes, he feared to hear the voice of The Other, or worse Thanos, he was in shock, terrified for the next instant, and the one after that.

He waited, closed eyed, but nobody came and for a while it remained like that. Sleep took him again, to wake up at a noise, steps, not claws, boots. Boots knocking against… not the rock. Now he was really scared, where was he? They had moved him in his sleep, _Damn it!_ He was beyond broken this time, weak, he could not tell, he must not. He tried to sense his surroundings with his free hand, again. Why had he his hand unrestrained?

The steps got closer and also another thing, a bright light. Oh, he can he remember the light, which meant… Yes, he knew exactly where he was, so he waited for the strike. It didn't came. His eye were forced open, and the light pierced them. The creature holding the light was blurry but definitely…. _Not Skrull, not Chitaru. Humanoid?_

His pupil followed the light. Both eyes were open, but only one could see, in the other there was no image, no light. He was released, but he didn't move, nor open his eyes again. He tried to sense every sound to get more clues, before exposing himself awake jumping into trouble. _Think, think, I'm not in the crate, I'm lying in something soft, I'm not totally restrained, it smells…clean, there is a beep, periodic, and there is… no pain, no pain, no pain, but not burn either. Am I death, finally? Maybe this is Valhalla, maybe I will see her again._ He tried to move his other hand, but this was tied above his head, which frustrated him, his throat was dried. _Enough of caution! No, not cautiousness, weakness._ He open his eyes, only one sensing, _gray ceiling, metal_. Then, he moved his head slowly to a side, trying to augment his vision range, _a room, a metal room like the crate_. He lifted his free arm, not without effort, to his face, it was heavy bandaged form the fingers to the elbow, the shape of the hand indistinguishable behind several layers of gauze. This was definitely a medical facility, he thought. Not Skrull, maybe Xandarian or Veltra, depending where he was before, he didn't knew where the crate was located, it could be anywhere in the universe, that was never revealed to him.

His gaze turned to a sound, a voice, female.

"You are awake." He looked defeated, but didn't acknowledge his speaker.

"You are in custody of SHIELD, you will not be hurt, but we will not tolerate if you try to damage anything or anyone in this ship. We will provide you medical assistance, and we expect you at least demonstrate a polite behavior as a sign of gratitude. If you deny of course we can return you back to your former… predicament. So what it will be?"

He said nothing, he understood nothing of what the woman had said. She spoke fast, in a language that he knew he know, but even if he could picture some words in his mind, he didn't understood her message or was she questioning him? Probably, humans as he knows where always eager with questions. The headache hit his head in waves, a stinging sensation that came and went. The voice tangled in an undecipherable humming, an instance later, the woman left. Her look was angry, she had shouted annoyed at him.

* * *

Zephyr was upset, she sat on her desk and read again the file of the New York attack report. How on Earth had she ended in a ship with that monster? Of course, because she wasn't on Earth and that's precisely the point. She had been fascinated with the space since she was a child, it was at night that she felt safer, surrounding by nothing but the darkness of the space above, twinkling stars that formed constellations, always there, reliable. In so many nights when she felt abandoned, she voiced her mind to the stars, her wishes; in spite of the well-known fact that life never went easy on runaway children, but she already had it pretty difficult, before she left. She never look back, not then, not after her life changed for good, not after she became a pilot and later a mother. She didn't grew feelings against her blood family, in fact she had forgiven them many years ago. They live in the only way they knew, and taking into account the ignorance and poverty, their life can be seen as normal as it could be.

As a child she used to feel misplaced and dreamed one day an emissary from a distant land will arrive, to solemnly will proclaim to her the truth. He will tell for everyone to know that she was indeed a royal heir, kidnapped by an evil deed when she was a child, finally found again by her loving true family, which never had stopped looking for her. It was a silly dream and she knew it, but still a child could dream, and she has her own Cinderella story for solace.

The made up story was later adapted and retold to Zephyr's son, but then it was the next to be queen and her firstborn heir, that will learn the truth. The princess defeated the kidnappers and recover their spacecraft, and both the princess and prince become travelers, searching the vast space for the distant realm where they belong. They boy was yet small to understand his mother job, and the bedtime stories were her only release, to convince herself that she didn't lie to her little boy, while keeping the agency classified information safe.

It hurt her badly to remember so 0freely, she had learned to disguise her feelings in order to get back to field operations. Three years had passed, every instant regretting she wasn't there to save him, she had seen the explosion but it was too late. Nothing was left from their former house, not even a picture, the only one she had was from her SHIELD file. Her last memory of her son was a dream, one that had happened two months later, the boy in plain white clothes, surrounded by light, an angel she thought in her dream. The boy was saying something to her, he looked happy and sad at the same time, and assure her he was being taking care, he wasn't alone, "I'm with dad, all is fine," he had said, and then she woke knowing that it had been but a dream, fake, her mind trying to make her feel better. She knew it was a lie, because the boy's father was not dead.

She closed the computer and went to the bathroom to wash her face, tears mixing with the water, being washed away. She wished she could easily wash away the pain from her heart too. As first agent in command of the ship, she had a mission to fulfill and protocols to follow, but first for her was the pledge to protect the innocent. Now she was conflicted, because there was no avenging fight, the 89 was already vanquished and defenseless.

When she had been on the contention room, 8 hours ago, she didn't expected was she found. He didn't spoke, not he even looked like he understood what was happening around him. Jimmy had told her he had the responsiveness of an infant, but she was convinced if that was the case, he must be probably performing a deception. The visit was left her startled, at first she doubted, but then she reassured herself the creature was far from innocent. A sentiment settled in Zephyr, and she had to fight to keep it at bay, revenge. She was afraid to free it, but she crave it at the same time. It will not health her broken pieces of heart, but she craved for it, after all she had swear to made justice, over Ralphie's empty tomb.

Her feet set in motion to the train room, it will benefit her to release her mind of burden with physical exercise. It was there where Neymeyer found her, all sweaty and aching for the intense exertion.

"Are you planning on avoid everyone for...How much time?"

"Drop it James I'm not in the mood"

"Are you anytime?"

"Are you trying to be a numskull or it comes to you naturally" She tried to keep her voice calm and unaltered.

"I'm trying to apologize. The recovery is secure and we are ready to take off, waiting for your orders. Everybody is a little itchy about the 084, I mean 089, and the whole quarantine situation, but you were right, and I'm glad we went through it, I apologize, I was wrong, we need to know, SHIELD needs to know who else is out there playing humans lives as chess pieces. And if our only chance to get answers is to take back that bastard, then so be it. If Doc get results from his research, we may be in our way back sooner than expected. Tomorrow will have contact with the base and that will help to lose the tension. But I'm as sure as I know you that this 'mood' of you has nothing about with any of that, Am I right?"

"You are not. I will speak with Jimmy and Pu, and-?

"Is this about Ralphie?" She halted mute, her veins pulsating, hands trying to conceal the shaking.

 _Oh no, you had not right, you are not…_

"It is not! Damn it James, What do you want from me?"

"I want my life, our lives, I want things like they were before!"

"Before what, before Ralphie? You want me to erase my son memories!"

"He is dead, and that is not going to chance. I did like him, and I did regret he died, but nothing you do will change that."

"I can kill the monster that took my son from me!"

"Can you? Ralphie was already lost to you before he came."

"No James, what we had was already lost to us before Ralphie died. Now if you excuse me I have responsibilities to attend as commander of this ship." She departed the training room, not giving a second glance to Neymeyer. He neither looked at her, nor retorted her last comment.

* * *

The struggle has taken at least two hours, at the end of it Jimmy has succeed in insert the nasogastric tube. It was strange for him to attend a patient in a containment cell, instead of the medical guard. But the 089 in question was apparently extremely danger. That he didn't knew, as the two hour of struggle had been like dealing with a whimpering infant that spits his food. Resilient though, that fitted the 89 description making a closer attempt to explain the fact that he was alive. For the present time, he hadn't demonstrate any special ability Jimmy had been warned against. The subject evaluation revealed he didn't had superior healing predisposition nor strength, nor magic or energy manipulation. He looked lack of focus, disoriented and clumsy, both his physical and mental capacity highly impaired. Unfortunately, the diagnostic left him unsuitable for interrogation, at least by now. Close monitoring and immediate report of any change in his conditions were a first priority, and that meant for Jimmy he was unofficially entitled as the 89 babysitter.

Both men had becoming used to a new routine, settled for the 30 hours day it took the Zenith to complete an orbit around Mars. For the crew, the sleeping shifts were of 6 hours, and the main activity besides maintaining the ship as well as themselves, was monitoring. Everyone was committed to it, they were vigil about their surrounding space and scan and read for any sign of threatening or alien approaching, the communications was other first necessity issue, and the tech guy Anderson was fully dedicated in set the contact with Earth back. And of course the 89 was the biggest issue, most of them expected it to attempt an escape and attack them at any moment.

As the physician of the crew Jimmy knew more in detail the feelings of all them - or at least what they shared and let others see – toward the creature under his care. The truth was, everyone would be more comfortable if the creature were knocked out for the rest of the quarantine and the trip back home. He had expressed his opinion against, after corroborate the poor conditions in which his weakened body was, and Dr. Pu had endorse him. Dr. Pu was not only older and wiser, he was a physician, a specialized surgeon, and a scientist. Now he spend most of his time in the Lab examining the bacteria responsible for Ivan's condition, and tending onto the crew injured ones. He checked Jimmy's work and the alien as well, but he was relieved of menial tasks concerning to the creature day to day, that was mostly Jimmy's.

After breakfast, Jimmy was first to the communication room to get clearance to the contention room, and that was a protocol itself. It was usually Lemman on the 0300 to 0900 shift, and he was glad for that. Lemman was string build and quick in response, so if any incident happened he will be there in seconds to keep him safe. The vitals were automatically and periodically checked by an automated health support system, but double check in person, a vestige of his former life as a nurse, before he joined SHIELD.

He always tried to prompt interaction from the patient, but none came. Another of Jimmy's relics, a handheld recorder, was turned on as entered the room and vocalized the patient status. He was a Star Trek fan, and get comfort in keep his own log, much like's Captain Kirk, a custom that he had started just for fun while in the Academy.

"Jim's Harvey Log, Mars' orbit, Q12, 0410 hours: No changes in the 89 vitals, his breathing has stabilized and the burns are starting to heal. He has not acknowledge my presence in the room in what I assume is an act of defiance against me for inserting the nasogastric tube yesterday." He paused the recorder, and grab the supplies to start his task.

"So, first food today. You'll feel better I can assure. I'll give you something for your throat later, but you need to be able to stomach it, so food first, medicine later." He fill up the syringe with apple sauce, and start feeding him through the tube. The 89 nine didn't move nor flinch, instead he remain still, looking at him, his green eye fixed in Jimmy's doing.


End file.
